"During the Hellenistic period... very little is heard about Mysteries. But at the time of the Roman Empire such religions suddenly sprang up. The best-known are the Mysteries of Isis and Mithras... the conquest of Egypt by Augustus [was] a prerequisite for the mission of the Mysteries of Isis. "

"The various Mysteries appealed to sociologically different strata of society... the cult of Isis attracted the middle classes, wealthy freedmen and courtesans... "

Isis worship

Roman Empire

-

-

-

-

50 C.E.

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 307.

"The Greeks called [Mithraism] and other such cults--like those of Eleusis, Dionysus, and Isis--mysteria, from a root meaning literally 'to keep one's mouth shut,' and from which the English words mystery and mysticism are derived. The term mystery applies to a sect capable of conferring initiation on its members. "

"But though this international cult [Osiris, Isis, Horus worship] endured for some centuries, it was doomed by the birth of a new religion in neighboring Palestine. By the Fourth Century A.D., Isis and the whole pantheon of Egyptian deities had fallen before a triumphant new rival, Christianity. As the new creed swept around the Mediterranean, one of its first stopping places was Egypt, and the ancient and exhausted land provided the inspiration for several features of incalculable importance to the young and vigorous religion. "

"This fact [that it was the state religion of Egypt] encouraged the spread of the Isis and Serapis cult in the Greek ruling circles of the Ptolemies, in Cyrene, Cyprus, Crete, the coastal towns of Asia Minor and the Greek islands whose religious centre as Delos. On the other hand, for political reasons, an expansion beyond the sphere of influence of the Ptolemies was not regarded favourably anywhere. There was only branches of the Isis cult in seaports, such as Athens, Salonica, and on Euboea. But even in Egypt itself, linking the royal cult with the Isis-Serapis religion was in many respects a disadvantage as pure religious feelings cannot arise when the practice of a religion is welcomed and rewarded so distinctly by those in high places. "

"The political decline of the Ptolemies, which started in 200 BC, followed by the compete loss of autonomy that resulted from Egypt's incorporation into the Roman Empire, provided a real opportunity for the Isis religion to expand. Having lots its political aspect, it became possible for the religious and ethical aspect to be strengthened. On Delos, for instance, the Isis cult became purely religious, and as Delos was an important centre for trade with Italy, the Delian cult even reached that country. The tranformation of the cult of Isis into a religion of Mysteries first occurred in the Roman Empire. Because there was no longer a political aspect to worshipping the goddess, the cult now appealed to people as individuals: each one was personally offered salvation, and promised regeneration after death. If a man entered into the service of Isis it was his own personal decision. "

Isis worship

world

-

-

-

-

100 C.E.

Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Doubleday (1996); pg. 319.

"Isis, the goddess whose cult began in Egypt and spread to Asia Minor, Cyprus, Crete, Greece, Rome, and Britain, is the Great Sorceress Who Heals, Mother of Heaven, Queen of the Cosmos, Lady of Wisdom, the personification of the life force itself, especially as healer and protector. When her brother and husband Osiris was drowned by his loutish brother Set, Isis recovered the body, elicited his sexual essence from it, and conceived a child, Horus... Many art historians, along with mythologist Joseph Campbell, believe that Isis and Horus became the model for countless Christian depictions of the Madonna and Child, just as Mary took on the titles once applied to Isis... "

"After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 331 BC the country was ruled by Greeks for 300 years, and during this period the cult of Isis became completely Hellenized. When the Romans took over the government in 30 BC they relied on the supprt of the Greek middle class in Egypt and the langauge of administration remained Greek; during this era, the goddess's cult spread over the entire Mediterranean basin. It was only when Constantine the Great, after his victory at the Milvian bridge in 312 AD raised Christianity to the level of the national religion, that the Isis cult lost its importance and was subsequently prohibited. "

"Danish members of the Unification Church number (at the very most) around 40 after more than 20 years of missionary work in the country. ISKCON presents the same picture. The organization has around 40 regular devotees in Denmark, and some 150 people who are affiliated to the organization in one way or the other, although not on a full-time scale. "

"ISKCON counts three centres in Denmark in its public registration of where the organization can be found around the world. One of the centres is a farm where two people live and work. Another is a vegetarian restaurant, and a third is the group's actual temple, where some 25 people live and work (other inner members, who have married, usually live outside the temple/monastery premises). "

"In 1984 a Toronto magazine estimated that there were 10,000 Hare Krishna members in that city. But when Irving Hexham, Raymond Curie, and Joan Townsend (1985) checked on the matter, they found that the correct total was 80. "

ISKCON

Russia

3,000

-

-

-

1997

*LINK* Shterin, Marat S. "NEW RELIGIONS, CULTS AND SECTS IN RUSSIA: A CRITIQUE AND BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE PROBLEMS "

"Slovenes are mostly Roman Catholic... 90% of Slovenes claim to be nominally Catholic... Small numbers of people belong to other religious groups... Of recent groups, some are non-Christian, such as Hare Rama Hare Krishna. "

Table with following columns: Movement; Total Membership; Full-Time Members; P/T Members; Sympathizers.; For this study Clarke "approached researchers & observers in the field of new religions [& org./church reps.] to obtain their opinions & any hard... data "

"I have selected the best available [statistics], providing a range where adjudication is impossible... ISKCON: Britain:... [Notes from author: "...an Indian informant they're expressed in numbers of families rather than individuals - 200-300 families of initiated devotees (which probably includes a fairly high proportion of celibates) and 10,000 families of life members - as well as people who attend the UK temples, for which they have no numbers, except that there were about 60,000 at the main temple to celebrate Krishna's birthday last year. "]

"Barker (1989:147):... far larger [than in U.S.] number of worshippers in ISKCON temples in Britain who are drawn from the Asian community and are regarded as litlte more or less than members of one Hindu tradition among many by their fellow Asians. ISKCON is... a respected member of the National Council of Hindu Temples... "

"According to Hare Krishna officials there are now about ten to twelve thousand initiated full-time members in the United States, living in forty temples... there are tens of thousands of additional 'lay' members who attend religious events... "

"Hare Krishna (...ISKON) was credited with approx. 20,000 members in the U.S. in the early 1980s (Barker, 1982:30), but a Krishna spokesperson told Appel (1983:13) that there were 5,000 full-time members in the U.S... "

"Although new members are still taken in, growth of the Society has slowed, and membership seems to have leveled out at around 3,000. Where temples are located a large group of non-members may gather on Sundays, when the Krishnas give their free feasts. "

"Although new members are still taken in, growth of the Society has slowed, and membership seems to have leveled out at around 3,000. Where temples are located a large group of nonmembers may gather on Sundays, when the Krishnas give their free feasts. "

"If Caru Das and Utah's 2,000 Hare Krishna devotees have their way, guests attending next year's Festival of India will be able to visit a new hilltop temple complex of colonnades, patios, gardens and fountains dedicated to the Hindu deity Krishna. Das, spokesman for the Spanish Fork ashram, said construction crews, assisted by numerous volunteers, expect to finish the $1 million, 15-acre temple site by June 1, 2000.... Das had special praise for his Mormon neighbors, noting the Canyon Point Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is helping excavate a 189,000-gallon lake. Mormon volunteers also have pitched in to help with plumbing and electrical work. "

"Utah's Hare Krishna temple construction fund has received a $25,000 donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation. Krishna leaders in Spanish Fork were thrilled with the donation. 'We've always felt welcome in Utah since we arrived 15 years ago, and have had nothing but warm relations with our Mormon friends and neighbors,' says Vaibhavi Devi, the temple's designer. 'And now, when we are struggling for funds to build a temple, their generous response has been so gratifying that I get goose bumps when I think of it.'... In addition to the funds, many local Mormons have contributed labor whenever it was needed, she says. The Radha Krishna Temple will be 15,000 square feet and is modeled after the ancient Palace Temple of Kusum Sarovar... "

[over 1000 devotees in America, and...] "The movement is spreading overseas, as well, and there are now ISKCON centers in England, Holland, Germany, France, Australia, and Japan... [In India] a number of centers have been opened. "

"in 1977... had over 200 temples and farms in 60 countries, tens of thousands of followers, and tens of millions of dollars. In the U.S. alone, ISKCON had 57 temples and farms, more than 5,000 devotees, and thousands of uninitiated believers. "

"If we take the Hare Krishna movement and look at its worldwide following we get an estimated total membership of c.41,500 and full time membership of c.4,500, with possibly hundreds of thousands of sympathizers. "

ISKCON

world

-

-

-

-

1991

*LINK* Wilson, Andrew (ed). "The World Religions and their Scriptures " in World Scripture. International Religious Foundation, 1991. (viewed 9 July 1999)

"new sects and movements in Hinduism both in India and the West, for example, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the Theosophical Society, Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Ananda Marga, Transcendental Meditation, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna)... "

ISKCON

world

-

-

-

-

1991

*LINK* Wilson, Andrew (ed). "The World Religions and their Scriptures " in World Scripture. International Religious Foundation, 1991. (viewed 9 July 1999)

"Some new religions have been accepted by their parent communities as expressions of orthodoxy: for example the Hare Krishna movement is accepted by many Hindus "

"Danish members of the Unification Church number (at the very most) around 40 after more than 20 years of missionary work in the country. ISKCON presents the same picture. The organization has around 40 regular devotees in Denmark, and some 150 people who are affiliated to the organization in one way or the other, although not on a full-time scale. "

Table with following columns: Movement; Total Membership; Full-Time Members; P/T Members; Sympathizers.; For this study Clarke "approached researchers & observers in the field of new religions [& org./church reps.] to obtain their opinions & any hard... data "

"Another more detailed assessment for West Germany covering many more movements concludes that well over one million people are involved or 'influenced' by new religions, with a 'full-time' membership of 64,200. The estimated full time membership for 12 of these movements is: " [table]

"I have selected the best available [statistics], providing a range where adjudication is impossible... ISKCON: Britain:... [Notes from author: "...an Indian informant they're expressed in numbers of families rather than individuals - 200-300 families of initiated devotees (which probably includes a fairly high proportion of celibates) and 10,000 families of life members - as well as people who attend the UK temples, for which they have no numbers, except that there were about 60,000 at the main temple to celebrate Krishna's birthday last year. "]

Table with following columns: Movement; Total Membership; Full-Time Members; P/T Members; Sympathizers.; For this study Clarke "approached researchers & observers in the field of new religions [& org./church reps.] to obtain their opinions & any hard... data "; Listed in table as "ISKCON (Hare Krishna) "

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